On Monday 2 March, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the Swiss Confederation, Guy Parmelin, signed a wide-ranging package of agreements designed to deepen and broaden relations between the EU and Switzerland.
This set of agreements, which the Council of the EU provisionally approved on 24 February (see EUROPE 13815/35) and which Switzerland will have to ratify by 2028, establishes “a modern framework for the EU and Switzerland, facilitating access to a market of 460 million consumers in key sectors and generating economic benefits for both parties”, according to a press release.
Harmonising standards and rules, “will provide legal certainty, simplify trade in goods such as medical devices and food products, and make cross-border procurement easier for businesses on both sides of the border. It will also ensure greater consistency of rules for people living, working or studying on either side of the EU-Switzerland border”.
“This historic package of agreements testifies to the strategic importance of the partnership between the European Union and Switzerland. It also means that our cooperation is fully in tune with the realities and ambitions of the 21st century”, said the President.
Guy Parmelin also hailed a package of agreements which “constitute, in the opinion of the Federal Council, a balanced, pragmatic and mutually beneficial package. They are an engine for prosperity, employment and stability”.
But “today’s signature is not the end of the road. On the Swiss side, the agreements and internal implementing legislation will shortly be submitted to our parliament as part of the message on the Switzerland-EU package. After the parliamentary debate, there will probably be a popular vote”.
This package includes the updating of four existing agreements on access to the EU’s internal market, concerning air transport, land transport, the free movement of persons and the mutual recognition of conformity assessments.
It introduces a new agreement on food safety, a new agreement on electricity, which will enable Switzerland to participate in the EU’s internal electricity market, a new agreement on health and a new agreement on a permanent financial contribution by Switzerland to economic and social cohesion within the Union.
The two parties also updated the dispute settlement provisions of the agreement on trade in agricultural products.
Each agreement enabling Switzerland to participate in the single market will take account of developments in European legislation and ensure that it is applied dynamically by Switzerland.
Switzerland will not be excluded from industrial ‘European preference’. With the Commission due to present the Industrial Accelerator Act in the very near future, “Switzerland and its business sector are very important to us”, said the President.
“This Act aims to strengthen companies that operate and grow in Europe, the wider form. European preference will be part of a toolbox to strengthen Europe’s production in key sectors, and it will be focused on public procurement in a limited number of strategic sectors. It will be designed case-by-case and based on robust economic analysis. So, everything we will do will be fully in line with our international obligations”, explained Ursula von der Leyen.
“To put it a little bit more simple (...), I can say that there is no interest at all, not to include Switzerland”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)